With elections approaching within a month of each
other in both Canada and the United States, there's
a lot of jockeying for position by potential leaders in
the news media these days. An issue of Maclean's
magazine invites voters to compare resumes of
Prime Minister Harper and Opposition leader
Stephane Dion. Local all-candidates-meetings give
us an opportunity to meet and evaluate those in the
contest to represent our own county. South of the
border, McCain and Obama were sparring back and
forth this week on whether to even proceed with a
scheduled debate.

But there's more to leadership than sheer strength,
skill with words, or brilliance - how impressive
one's resume looks. The CEOs of financial
companies dealing in mortgage-backed securities
may have been smart enough, but their greed and
wickedness in saddling companies with bad debt
have left the United States gasping for able
leadership to cope with conditions that could slide
into a recession. Following World War I, Germany
was hurting badly; people embraced a charismatic
leader who promised to get the nation back on its
feet again with his own solutions to their economic
problems. He had clear goals summed up in a book,
Mein Kampf. But Adolf Hitler's pride, lust for
power, and hatred of the Jews proved demonic in
the end.

Character and moral fibre - essential goodness - are
necessities for the best leaders. In regard to our own
country's coming election, John Redekop, veteran
political science professor and author, contends:
"The most important issue for people of Christian
faith is the fundamental integrity of the senior party
leaders.There is little point in spelling out specific
party policies if there is little likelihood of them
being implemented. It is much better to have fairly
weak policies spelled out by leaders with integrity
than to have very specific policies spelled out by
party spokespeople who have not commitment to
implementing them."

Today as we conclude our series "Meeting Jesus in
Unexpected Places", we find our Lord perhaps
surprisingly in the political arena, combatting other
leaders, showing that God's principles and justice
are key for ultimate leadership: lesser motives and
ambitions are crushed by comparison. Yet not only
is Jesus the ultimate leader as the Messiah, God's
anointed: more than a king, He is a Priest-King,
offering Himself for the sins of the people.
Leadership takes more than might.

Justice-seeking King-crusher

Psalm 110 is a coronation psalm, written by David
perhaps for the coronation of his son Solomon, yet
it had application down through other godly kings
of Judah such as Uzziah and Hezekiah. Even more,
it is prophetic of David's much-later descendant
(legally speaking) - Jesus. It has similarities to other
psalms apt for coronation of kings, such as Psalm 2
and Psalm 72. It honours one who has been
appointed by God and recognized by the people to
be ruler over God's flock.

It's clear by the language that God has authorized
this individual for the position they occupy. V1,
God says to them, "Sit at my right hand..."; v5, "The
Lord is at your right hand..." The right-hand
position was the one of delegated authority, the
place of honour, the key agent to carry out orders.
Jesus applied this text to Himself in Matthew 22:43f
at a critical moment when the Pharisees and
Sadducees were challenging His right to do and say
the things He did. In response to their belief the
Messiah would be the son of David (perhaps
someone with higher-profile royal breeding), Jesus
asked, "How is it then that David, speaking by the
Spirit, calls him 'Lord'? For he says, 'The Lord said
to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I put your
enemies under your feet."' If then David calls him
'Lord,' how can he be his son?" So Jesus is
applying this very Psalm to Himself as Christ.

The apostle Peter also applies this Psalm to Jesus, in
his famous sermon at Pentecost in Acts 2(34ff):
"For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he
said, 'The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right
hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your
feet."' [then he makes the identification] Therefore
let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this
Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

A few chapters later in Acts 7(55f), Stephen is
about to be stoned for his witness when he sees
Jesus 'standing at the right hand of God'. And he
tells those listening, though it costs him his life.

Jesus confirms the truth of His enthronement after
His resurrection when, just before the Great
Commission, He tells His followers: "All authority
in heaven and on earth has been given to me." (Mt
28:18) Has the significance of that truth really
impacted us? Is He actually Lord in your dreams,
your desires, and your decisions? Who's on the
throne in your inner spirit - is Self on the throne, or
is Jesus seated there with Self bowing to serve Him?

David became a great King because He consulted
God regularly in his decisions. For example - "In
the course of time, David inquired of the LORD.
"Shall I go up to one of the towns of Judah?" he
asked. The LORD said, "Go up." David asked,
"Where shall I go?" "To Hebron," the LORD
answered... [later] "So David inquired of the LORD,
"Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you hand
them over to me?" The LORD answered him, "Go,
for I will surely hand the Philistines over to you.""
[and another time] "So David inquired of the
LORD, and he answered, "Do not go straight up, but
circle around behind them and attack them in front
of the balsam trees. As soon as you hear the sound
of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, move
quickly, because that will mean the LORD has gone
out in front of you to strike the Philistine army.""
(2Sam 2:1; 5:19,23-24) Such remarkably detailed
guidance! In very practical ways, David made the
Lord his prime authority.

Psalm 110 also depicts God's installed King as
executing justice - not just expanding his empire for
the sake of empire and tyranny. There's power
obviously being exercised to overcome enemies -
v1B God says "I will make your enemies a footstool
for your feet"; v2 "the Lord will extend your mighty
sceptre from Zion; you will rule in the midst of your
enemies". V5B-6 "he will crush kings on the day of
his wrath.He will judge the nations, heaping up the
dead and crushing the rulers of the whole earth."
Obviously heads are going to roll - but why? Power
will be exercised and sentence executed relative to
WHAT? Not willy-nilly, but relative to God's
standards and ways: the foes are those who have not
obeyed the Lord's teaching.

V6, "He will judge the nations": the Hebrew behind
the word 'judge' means contend, plead, execute or
carry out. In Isaiah 42:1 God says of the Messiah,
""Here is my servant...I will put my Spirit on him
and he will bring justice to the nations." Who or
what defines justice? V2, the sceptre is extended
'from Zion': recalls Micah's prophecy, "Many
nations will come and say, "Come, let us go up to
the mountain of the LORD...He will teach us his
ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law
will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from
Jerusalem." (Mic 4:2) So the king-as-judge is
carrying out sentence relative to God's laws. Those
who ignore or reject God's ways make themselves
Christ's enemies.

Those crushed will be those who are fundamentally
anti-God. V6B has the strong phrase "the day of His
wrath": if you don't think that sounds like Jesus,
check out Revelation 6:16f where in the end times
kings, princes, generals, and others hide in caves
and call to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us
and hide us from the face of him who sits on the
throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the
great day of their wrath has come, and who can
stand?"

If your theology only imagines a "gentle Jesus,
meek and mild" - you'd better allow Scripture to
correct the picture. God's righteousness and
holiness necessarily involves WRATH against those
who do evil. Paul warns hypocrites who condemn
others and show contempt for God's kindness,
"because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant
heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for
the day of God's wrath, when his righteous
judgment will be revealed." (Rom 2:5) Do you have
an RWSP? In an RRSP we store up savings for
retirement; an RWSP ("Registered Wrath Savings
Plan") hypocrites and stubborn unbelievers store up
wrath for themselves, registered in heaven God's
judgment day. If that's you - run for protection to
the cross!

The Bible contains startling apocalyptic imagery
concerning the extent of that phrase in v6, "heaping
up the dead"; Ezekiel 39(11-20) talks about it taking
7 months for Israel to bury the great horde of dead
from Gog when they try to invade. Revelation
19(19-21) talks about "the kings of the earth and
their armies gathered together to make war against
the rider on the horse and his army..." But these
"were killed with the sword that came out of the
mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds
gorged themselves on their flesh." So Jesus as the
mighty God-authorized justice-implementing King
has power to crush His opponents. But there's more
to God's leader than merely being a powerful
sword-wielder.

Holy Humble Priest-For-Us

Hitler and Stalin were powerful but not good. God's
ruler is qualitatively different. V3 "Arrayed in holy
majesty..." Jesus exuded "the splendour of
holiness"; He is the only human being who every
lived that never sinned (Ps 96:9; Heb 4:15). Good to
the core, He calls us to be holy as He is holy.
Ephesians 1:4, God "chose us in [Jesus] before the
creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his
sight."

Now, one might suppose such moral excellence and
perfection could make Him stand-offish. But more
than just a king, Jesus is our Priest-King. See v4 in
David's prophecy, "The LORD has sworn and will
not change his mind: "You are a priest forever, in
the order of Melchizedek."" Suddenly all that kingly
ruling/authority is counterbalanced by this
designation of being a priest.

Recall the dress of the High Priest as the Lord
showed Moses in Exodus 28: on his turban was a
gold plate engraved with the words "Holy to the
Lord"; while on the breastpiece were 12 precious
stones, representing the 12 tribes of Israel. So the
priest symbolically brought into God's presence the
names of the people of Israel over his heart. The
main function of a priest was to offer the people's
gifts and to minister God's blessing and forgiveness.

Who was Melchizedek? Long before Moses' time,
when Abraham had won a battle and rescued many
people including his nephew Lot, Melchizedek,
"king of Salem" [meaning peace] and "priest of God
Most High" brought out bread and wine (of all
things!). He blessed Abram and God for
deliverance, then Abraham gave Melchizedek an
tenth of everything. His name translates to "king of
righteousness". He's a mysterious figure because
that's about all we're told about him, but Abraham
seemed to recognize him as a bona fide
representative for God.

Jesus according to human lineage was from the tribe
of Judah rather than the priestly line of Aaron from
the tribe of Levi. Judah was the tribe from which
rulers came (according to Jacob's prophetic
blessing, Gen.49:10); kings were forbidden from
assuming priestly duties. For example, King Uzziah,
who had been a good king, 'blew it' when he
became proud and tried to burn incense in the
temple - he was rebuked by the priests and
contracted leprosy as a punishment (2Chron 26:16-21).

But in Jesus there is a special case - the offices of
prophet, priest, and king all combined in one figure.
Jesus as priest is "FOR US", bearing our names on
His heart, sacrificially offering on our behalf - then
(at the cross) and now. The book of Hebrews
explores this Priest-King dynamic in depth. "But we
see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the
angels, now crowned with glory and honor because
he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he
might taste death FOR everyone." (Heb 2:9) Jesus
"has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to
save completely those who come to God through
him, because he always lives to intercede FOR
them. Such a high priest meets our need...He
sacrificed for [people's] sins once for all when he
offered himself." (Heb 7:24-28)

Jesus showed Himself conclusively to be our priest
when He offered Himself to forgive our sins on the
altar of the cross. But it didn't end there. His
function as priest continues today in that "he always
lives to intercede for" us! He has us on His heart,
bringing us into the Father's presence with requests
for our good.

A Great and Reverent American Leader in
Crisis

Some are saying the current economic meltdown in
the States is their greatest crisis since the Great
Depression. A great crisis demands great leadership.
If you watched the presidential debate Friday night,
who would you say came across most as a Priest-King? Which of our current candidates for Prime
Minister of Canada would classify most as a Priest-King - one not only ruling in power, but ready to
sacrificially serve the people, being 'for them' not
just 'for self' (or party)?

Back in the 1860s another crisis, the Civil War,
found a President at the helm who is still honoured
today because he seemed to heed God's guidance
and principles of justice and righteousness.
Abraham Lincoln was a man of prayer. A statue in
the National Cathedral shows Lincoln praying on
his knees. The artist's grandfather said he observed
Lincoln praying in the woods just before delivering
the Gettysburg address.
(http://www.dcmemorials.com/index_indiv0001484.htm)

Lincoln was humble enough to realize he needed
God's help. He said, "I have often been driven to
my knees by the knowledge that I had no place else
to go."

Elton Trueblood wrote in depth about the
president's piety in his book Abraham Lincoln:
Theologian of American Anguish. On November 11,
1864, Lincoln told Noah Brooks, "I should be the
veriest shallow and self-conceited blockhead upon
the footstool, if, in my discharge of the duties which
are put upon me in this place, I should hope to get
along without the wisdom which comes from God
and not from men."

Trueblood says, "The evidence of Abraham
Lincoln's own practice of personal prayer is so
abundant that no thoughtful person can deny it. He
prayed alone, and he called the nation to prayer; he
prayed for guidance, and he prayed in gratitude; he
prayed in defeat, and he prayed in victory."

Lincoln's wife said that on the morning of the first
inauguration, Lincoln read the conclusion of his
address to the assembled family and then, when they
had withdrawn from the room, prayed audibly for
strength and guidance.

And he didn't just reserve prayer for special
occasions. Noah Brooks reported that, after entering
the White House and in spite of the demands of a
busy schedule, Lincoln observed daily the practice
of prayer. Brooks noted, "Sometimes it was only ten
words, but those ten words he had."
(http://www.ccel.us/trueblood1.ch4.html)

Do we meet Jesus in this unexpected place - behind
the politician's podium? As we examine candidates
for office, do we hear in their speeches echoes of
One who is both King and Priest? Do they bring to
the task a readiness to wield power in a way that
both executes justice and Biblical principles, and
puts the needs of others sacrificially ahead of self-advantage? In our own spheres of leadership
amongst our friends, in our families, our church,
and our community, may we follow Jesus who both
extends His sceptre over all and intercedes for His
people. Let's pray.